Reeves Leaves Door Open To Gambling Tax Rise In Autumn Budget

Rachel Reeves left the door open up to a rise in betting taxes after Gordon Brown urged her to raise levies to cover the expense of raising the two-child advantage cap.


The Chancellor said she was "deeply concerned" about kid hardship as she dealt with concerns about the former prime minister's proposition to increase duties for online casinos and slot makers to money welfare reform.


Asked whether she was thinking about Mr Brown's idea, Ms Reeves said she had spoken with him recently and would set out Government policy in the autumn budget.


Gordon Brown said gaming taxes must be raised to fund well-being reform (Dominic Lipinski/PA)


"So I speak to Gordon frequently, and saw him last week when I was in Scotland," she said.


"Like Gordon, I am deeply worried around the levels of kid hardship in Britain. No child ought to grow up hungry or parents not have the ability to afford the basics for their household.


"We're a Labour Government. Obviously, we appreciate child poverty. That's why among the first things we did as a federal government was to establish a child poverty task force that will be reporting in the autumn and (will) react to it then."


She added: "On gaming taxes, we've currently an evaluation into betting taxes. We're taking proof on that at the moment, and once again, we'll set out our policies in the regular way, in our spending plan later this year."


Reforms to betting levies might generate the ₤ 3.2 billion required to scrap the two-child limit and advantage cap, the Institute for Public Law Research (IPPR) said.


The think tank's latest research said axing the policies might lift half a million kids out of poverty and "reverse years of increasing hardship for low-income households".


Giving his support to the report, Mr Brown, a photo of whom Ms Reeves supposedly kept in her bed room as a student, stated it would be the "very first important step in the war we should wage against kid poverty".


The Government is expected to release a child poverty method in the autumn, and project groups have stated it must consist of a commitment to desert the two-child limitation.


Thanks to IPPR's report, we now know that taxing gambling more fairly would totally fund the first vital step in the war we should wage versus kid poverty - ending the two-child limitation and lifting the advantage cap


Gordon Brown


Economists have warned tax increases in the autumn are likely required to plug a hole in the public finances left by poor economic figures and U-turns on well-being, triggering speculation about which areas Ms Reeves might target.


The IPPR suggested increasing taxes on online casinos from 21% to 50% and raising those on slots and gaming machines, from 20% to 50%.


Mr Brown added: "Thanks to IPPR's report, we now understand that taxing betting more relatively would completely money the first essential action in the war we must wage against kid poverty - ending the two-child limit and raising the benefit cap."


Labour Mayor for the Liverpool City Region Steve Rotheram heaped additional pressure on the Chancellor in the future Thursday, saying that lifting 500,000 children out of hardship must be "a national mission".


"Gordon is spot on," he said. "The Government has a genuine chance to act now and change young lives throughout the country."


Gordon is area on - raising 500,000 children out of hardship need to be a nationwide mission.


The federal government has a real chance to act now and transform young lives across the nation.


Let's get this done. https://t.co/JQY3K0jFxp


- Steve Rotheram (@MetroMayorSteve) August 7, 2025


But a spokesperson for the Betting and Gaming Council rejected the "economically reckless, factually deceiving" propositions which "threat driving substantial numbers to the growing, hazardous, unregulated gambling black market, which does not secure customers and contributes absolutely no tax".


They included: "Further tax rises, fresh off the back of Government reforms which cost the sector over a billion in lost earnings, would do more damage than good, for punters, tasks, development and public financial resources."